TikTok’s parent company ByteDance has exited Indian social media company VerSe in a secondary share sale. ByteDance sold its shares for a total of $102M, well below the $232M the stake would have been worth during VerSe’s most recent $805M round at a $5B valuation last April. More: - According to filings with India’s Ministry of Corporate Affairs, ByteDance sold 139,774 shares to Ontario Teachers Pension Plan and 162,750 shares to Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).
- CPPIB was involved in VerSe’s most recent funding round to the tune of $375M and invested another $50M in the company in Jan. 2022.
- The logic behind ByteDance’s seemingly self-harming move is its intent to re-enter the Indian market through a new partnership with the Hiranandani group.
- The plan comes two years after the company was forced to exit the country following a government ban.
- VerSe runs local language news aggregator DailyHunt, which claims 350 million monthly users, in addition to short-form video Josh with 150 million monthly active users.
In case you forgot: - Mohalla Tech, the parent company of Indian social media giant ShareSpace, a VerSe competitor, raised $300M from Alphabet at a $5B valuation last week, according to sources for Reuters.
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Once seen as a safe bet and after raising $15 billion in debt and equity funding during the pandemic, the Amazon aggregator industry is in dire straits, The Information reports. Leading firm Thrasio recently exemplified this trend by making big cuts to staff and bringing in former Airbnb and Amazon executive Greg Greeley as CEO. More: - The more than 100 nearly-identical aggregator companies almost ubiquitously made the error of over-spending to secure market share.
- They anticipated the continuation of the pandemic-based e-commerce boom, which, once it ended, made the bidding wars for third-party sellers an expensive mistake.
- Many companies took on four times as much debt as equity to fund those deals.
- Some companies agreed to interest rates as high as 15%, while others saw payments tied to benchmarks rising quickly as the government tightens monetary policy.
- During the frenzy of 2021, Amazon third-party sellers were sometimes selling for up to four-to-five times earnings. Deals in 2022 look more like 1.5 to 2.5 times.
- Meanwhile, shipping costs remain well above pre-pandemic levels, further hurting aggregators’ bottom lines, resulting in a perfect storm of high debt servicing costs, decreased revenue, and lower margins.
- Retrenchment has become the name of the game for most companies, which have all but ceased to acquire new brands, instead focusing on running the ones they already own.
- According to one founder, some companies are doing asset swaps, where aggregators exchange brands so they both end up with assets better aligned with their priorities.
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 A message from AXONIUS On July 14, 2021, the world welcomed a newborn. Named Cyber Asset Attack Surface Management (CAASM), Gartner announced its arrival in the Hype Cycle for Network Security 2021. New acronyms and repackaged tools aimed at IT and security professionals pop up every year, though. So what makes CAASM different? What’s driving its adoption? And how can we expect it to impact cybersecurity initiatives? We’re here to answer these important questions and help you navigate the new world of CAASM. Download “From Asset Management to Asset Intelligence: Crossing the CAASM” now to learn: - The history behind CAASM
- Why CAASM is a relevant category for IT and Security professionals
- How organizations can realize CAASM’s value — immediately
Read Now
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Best of Last Week M&A - Paddle, a London-based payments infrastructure provider for SaaS companies, acquired ProfitWell, a Boston-based subscription metrics and retention automation software company, for over $200M.
- ReliaQuest, a cybersecurity outfit, acquired threat intelligence startup Digital Shadows for $160M.
- Cerberus Cyber Sentinel Corporation, an Arizona-based cybersecurity consulting firm, completed the acquisition of Creatrix, a cybersecurity and information provider, for an undisclosed sum.
- Pinterest has acquired AI-powered shopping service for fashion The Yes for an undisclosed sum.
IPO New Funds - The German economy ministry has drawn up plans to boost startups in the nation with a ~$32B (€30B) venture fund.
- FFL Partners, an investor in midsize healthcare and technology-enabled services companies, is targeting $750M for its next fund.
- Viola Credit, a global alternative credit asset managing platform, is raising $700M for its Alternative Lending Income Fund II.
- Ten Eleven Ventures raised $600M for its cybersecurity-focused fund.
- Binance's venture capital arm has announced a $500M fund to back Web3 startups.
- Alven, a French early-stage venture firm, closed its sixth oversubscribed fund with ~$373M (€350M) in capital commitments.
- Cybersecurity-focused venture firm Paladin Capital Group closed its Cyber Fund II with $372M in capital commitments.
- Boldstart Ventures, a seed- and early-stage VC, closed two new funds: its sixth flagship fund with $192.2M and a third opportunity-style fund at $175M.
- Robert Bosch Venture Capital, Bosch's venture funding arm, launched its fifth fund with ~$270M (€250M) in capital.
- Los Angeles-based venture firm Bonfire Ventures closed two funds with over $230M in capital.
- Luxembourg/London-based Web3 venture capital firm Fabric Ventures closed its latest fund at $140M, $30M above its hard cap and twice as large as initially targeted.
- SHIFT Invest received follow-on capital for its impact fund, which closed earlier at ~$75M (€70M) in 2020.
- Fabric Ventures closed its Web3-focused venture fund at $140M. The fund closed $30M above its hard cap.
- Constant Ventures launched a $100M venture capital fund to pursue investment opportunities in Nigeria and Ghana.
- Hannah Grey, a VC outfit focusing on pre-seed and seed rounds in companies that use macro-societal shifts to discover opportunities, raised its maiden fund at $51.6M.
- Zinc, a 2017-founded accelerator for diverse-led, ESG-focused companies, has hit the first close of its second fund with $34M (£28M).
- Anand Iyer, a former Microsoft expert on developer infrastructure, has raised a $20M maiden fund for his new firm Canonical Capital.
- Egyptian food delivery platform Appetito acquired Moroccan/Tunisian competitor Lamma for $10M.
- Sydney Thomas, seed-stage Precursor Ventures' first hire, has departed to start her own solo-partner firm.
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As SoftBank's Vision Fund faces massive losses totaling $27B in the last year, founder Masayoshi Son's promise of a world assisted by AI seems all the more distant. Instead, according to Vice author Edward Ongweso Jr., the fund has only proven how flawed its investment strategy was from the start. More: - For Ongweso, not only is the Vision Fund exemplary for how the venture industry has benefitted from wealth concentrating in ever-fewer hands, but it also pushed this dynamic further, drawing funds from sovereign wealth funds and top companies.
- Son's idea of a 300-year investment strategy was given a second lease on life in 2020 when a $2.5B infusion saved it from the brink and forced it to implement stock buybacks and transparency policies.
- Its new position put it at the center of the tech bubble, and its massive exposure to companies targeted by tech crackdowns in the U.S., China, and the EU helped pop it.
- In effect, it systematically bet on monopolistic business models that ran headlong into anti-trust movements.
- Now, with a public market too weak to produce returns on its investments, SoftBank is trying to boost its own stock price with further buybacks, which are just adding to its losses for the time being.
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 Today’s Funding 💸 Biotech/Health - Diabeloop (France), diabetes management technology for patients: $75M led by LBO France, participation from Terumo, Innovacom, et al.
- Vernal Biosciences (Colchester, Vt.), mRNA manufacturer and formulator of LNP-mRNA: $21M from Ampersand Capital Partners, Dynamk Capital, Alloy Therapeutics, ATUM, et al.
Blockchain - The Red Village (Sydney, Australia), blockchain-gaming startup: $6.5M Seed led by Animoca Brands, GameFi Ventures Fund, participation from Kucoin Ventures, JellyC, Sfermion, Polygon Studios, Metavest, et al.
Enterprise - LaunchNotes (San Francisco, Calif.), connection platform for the entire product cycle: $15M A led by Insight Partners, participation from Atlassian Ventures, The New Normal Fund, Essence VC, et al.
- Prokeep (New Orleans, La.), communications and commerce platform for distributors: $9M Seed led by Ironspring Ventures, participation from S3 Ventures, Benson Capital Partners, Scott Wolfe Jr, Lawrence Hester, Hugh Evans.
Fintech - Pluto (Marina Del Ray, Calif.), free investing platform: $4M Seed led by at.inc/ Nadav Eylath, participation from Switch Ventures, Caffeinated Capital.
Transportation - Kolors (Houston, Texas), data-driven intercity bus network: $26M led by UP.Partners, participation from Toyota Ventures, Maniv Mobility, K5 Global, Mazapil, et al.
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- The U.K. will reportedly introduce a new overarching plan to boost its startup scene following Brexit and the pandemic. Several of the policies are to be revealed at the London tech week starting June 13. Beyond that, a dinner will be held for tech bosses at Downing Street.
- Based on an analysis of over 1,000 seed rounds of $500,000+, Crunchbase has determined the metaverse, NFTs, brain/neuro-tech, alternative proteins, and fitness to be the hottest areas for the earliest stage of investment. Several companies managed to clinch seed rounds of $10M or more.
- Investors in Grab, the Southeast Asian super app, will be able to sell their shares as the lockup period following its SPAC debut wraps up. SoftBank, Uber, Didi, and others are now posed with the question of whether to bail on the stock at a loss, which is trading at $2.54, well below its $16.77 high point.
- As the "girlboss" era seems to reach its limit, TechCrunch considers how the myth and the movement have negatively affected female entrepreneurs. Not only is the term itself highly gendered, but it is also attached to the idea of a white woman heading a consumer-centric company faced with scandals. As such, it reinforced stereotypes about what sort of companies women could run and excluded many other promising entrepreneurs.
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 |  | Inside VC's writer/curator Stephen currently lives in Berlin and is pursuing a Master's degree in philosophy. He otherwise spends his time trying his hand at recipes from India and Southeast Asia, escaping it all at the kickboxing gym, and offending aural sensibilities with his band. |  | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
CAASM is on the rise - but what exactly does it mean? Read this ebook to find out why it’s relevant. Read Now. | |
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